Movies like The Magnificent Ruffians (1979)
The best movies like The Magnificent Ruffians (1979) are Crippled Avengers (1978), Clan of the White Lotus (1980) and The Chinese Boxer (1970). If The Magnificent Ruffians hooked you with its action and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSnake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978)7.3/10 from 382 votes
- NewestThe Great Arms Robbery (2022)Released 2022
- In ChineseCrippled Avengers (1978)Also in Chinese
Crippled Avengers (1978)
A group of martial artists seek revenge after being crippled by Tu Tin-To, a martial arts master, and his son.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClan of the White Lotus (1980)
The Qing emperor releases all detained Shaolin disciples, but the vindictive White Lotus clan decides to exterminate all the disciples. One martial artist survives the onslaught, and constantly trains while in hiding for revenge.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Chinese Boxer (1970)
Lei Ming, a noble young martial arts student who doesn't know the meaning of giving up. He faces a treacherous, blood-thirsty Japanese karate expert, which leads to many memorable battles as well as several unforgettable training sequences.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978)
Everyone abuses and humiliates a downtrodden orphan until he befriends an old man, who turns out to be the last master of the snake fist fighting style. Jackie becomes the old man's student and finds himself in battle with the master of the eagle's claw style, who has vowed to destroy the snake fist clan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInvincible Shaolin (1978)
Three North Shaolin teachers are called on by the Manchus to teach their soldiers and are urged to challenge the current South Shaolin teachers. They defeat the South Shaolin teachers and, that night, the head general kills the South Shaolin teachers and blames their death on the North Shaolin teachers. The South Shaolin master sends more of his pupils, who are killed accidentally by the North Shaolin teachers. He finally sends two more of his students to train with old masters and trains one student himself with the goal of finally defeating the North Shaolin experts.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDance of the Drunk Mantis (1979)
A year after training young Wong Fei-hung in the Drunken Fist, Beggar So discovers he has a son, Foggy, whom he attempts to train to no avail. Foggy is then trained in Drunken Fist from his uncle as he must face his father's rival, Rubber Legs, another Drunken Fist master who combines it with Mantis Fist to create a deadly style.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYes, Madam! (1985)
Two unlucky thieves break into a just murdered man's hotel room and steal his passport, with a hidden microfilm, wanted by a triad boss. Two ass-kicking women cops—one Chinese, one British—are on the case.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPedicab Driver (1989)
Lo Tung and his friend Malted Candy, pedicab drivers working the streets of Macao, have both fallen in love. The problem is that both their objects of affection - one a baker, the other a prostitute - are working under cruel and lecherous bosses. Somehow, the pair must find a way to win the ladies' hearts and free them from their unpleasant jobs.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturn to the 36th Chamber (1980)
The workers of a dye factory have their pay cut by 20% when the factory owner brings in some Manchu thugs to try and increase production. Desperate to reclaim their full wages, the workers hire an actor to impersonate a priest and kung-fu expert from the temple of Shaolin. The factory owner proves the actor a fraud, and punishes all those involved. The young actor feels he has let the workers down, and promises to atone. He sets out for Shaolin, determined to be accepted as a kung-fu pupil at the elite temple.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSister Street Fighter (1974)
Li Mansei is a martial-arts champion turned undercover agent. When he is captured by a drug lord, his sister Li Koryu turns to his former martial-arts school, including the powerful Sonny Kawasaka, for help in the inevitable battle royale.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDisciples of the 36th Chamber (1985)
Monk San Te tries to support and protect Shaolin and her Fang Shih-yu who purposely attacks corrupt Ching officials.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFive Fingers of Death (1972)
A young boxer joins a martial arts school to increase his skill so he can enter a martial arts competition. He leaves the school when he hears that a local gangster is terrorizing the town. He comes to the aid of a young singer and brings on the wrath of the local gang. He eventually enters the martial arts competition after learning iron palm technique and takes out all competition.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLast Hurrah for Chivalry (1979)
Kao has purchased a new wife, but an enemy has paid her more money to kill him. Kao must recruit a pair of swordsmen to help defend himself and his family from his ruthless enemy. But Kao has his dark side as well.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHapkido (1972)
Yu Ying, Kao and Fan return to China to start a martial arts school but are bullied by the Japanese competitor who runs the Black Bear school. The harassment leads to intense conflicts between them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpiritual Kung Fu (1978)
Jackie Chan plays the part of the class clown in a shaolin temple whose deadliest secret is stolen. All is lost until Jackie's character discovers dancing blue ghosts with bright red hair who haunt the library.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (1984)
The Yangs are betrayed by a government official conspiring with the Mongols. All of the Yang family males except the 5th and 6th brother are killed. Fu Sheng loses his mind after the death of his family, while the other brother takes refuge in a Buddhist temple.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mystery of Chess Boxing (1979)
A young orphan, Ah Pao wants to learn kung fu in order to avenge his father, who was murdered by the infamous Ghost Face Killer - an overwhelming force of destruction and master of the death-dealing Five Element Fist.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Dragon Fist (1979)
After the death of his master, martial arts student Tong Huo-wan travels with his adoptive family to seek redress from the man responsible but finds himself torn between righteousness and filial piety after becoming entangled in a feud between a local clan and gangsters.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJawbone (2017)
A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood Brothers (1973)
Set in the waning years of the Ching Dyansty, this dramatic, tragic, romantic, blood-soaked martial arts tale of betrayal and revenge explores one of the most sensational scandals in Chinese history and marked the true ascension of its director and actors to superstar status. In fact, Ti Lung won Taiwan's Golden Horse Award for Outstanding Performance as the challenging role of a jealous provincial governor who kills his friend in order to steal the man's wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConvict (2014)
Set in the dark and old Parramatta prison built by the original convicts our lead character Ray a war veteran finds himself serving 18 months for manslaughter after defending his fiance. He soon realizes that the prison boss has it in for him and does everything possible to break Ray even going after his fiance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne-Armed Boxer (1972)
A martial-arts student learns the iron fist and death grip techniques to avenge his teacher's death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Great Arms Robbery (2022)
Agent Wen goes undercover to locate weapons for an arms dealer. He's attacked after finding them, so he teams up with his partner to recover the munitions and prevent disaster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAl Capone (1959)
In this unusually accurate biography, small-time hood Al Capone comes to Chicago at the dawn of Prohibition to be the bodyguard of racketeer Johnny Torrio. Capone's rise in Chicago gangdom is followed through murder, extortion, and political fraud. He becomes head of Chicago's biggest "business," but moves inexorably toward his downfall and ignominious end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Substitute (1996)
When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take down the punk. Soon he discovers a conspiracy of criminals at work, and must reassemble his team from his last jungle raid to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn Hell (2003)
A man must survive a prison where hardened criminals battle to the death for the warden's entertainment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Blood (2014)
When her husband goes missing during their Caribbean vacation, a woman sets off on her own to take down the men she thinks are responsible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisLockdown (2000)
Avery (Jones) returns to college as a competitive swimmer after getting his life back on track. But his life takes another unexpected turn when he and his two friends (Bonds, Casseus) are wrongly accused of murder and end up in prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Warrior (2001)
In feudal India, a warrior who renounces his role as the longtime enforcer to a local lord becomes the prey in a murderous hunt through the Himalayan mountains.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWake of Death (2004)
Ben Archer, an ex-mob enforcer, seeks revenge against a ruthless Chinese kingpin responsible for his wife's brutal murder. When Archer joins forces with his old underworld friends, an all-out war is waged against the Chinese Triad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Magnificent Ruffians?
The closest matches to The Magnificent Ruffians are Crippled Avengers (1978), Clan of the White Lotus (1980) and The Chinese Boxer (1970). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Magnificent Ruffians?
People who watched The Magnificent Ruffians most often go on to Crippled Avengers (1978), Clan of the White Lotus (1980) and The Chinese Boxer (1970).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Magnificent Ruffians?
Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978), rated 7.3/10 by 382 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Magnificent Ruffians?
The Great Arms Robbery (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like The Magnificent Ruffians?
Yes: Crippled Avengers (1978), Clan of the White Lotus (1980) and The Chinese Boxer (1970).
How are movies similar to The Magnificent Ruffians chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Magnificent Ruffians, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.